


A Golden Swallow

by frankcastlesfemfeb (Deathtouch)



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, F/F, Femslash February, Flirting, Pain, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 16:31:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9665588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deathtouch/pseuds/frankcastlesfemfeb
Summary: Femfeb 2017 | Shortficlena gets her first tattoo





	

**Author's Note:**

> unbeta'd! all mistakes are my own.

Lena pulled the shop door open, stepping into Talon Tattoo Inc. The soft buzz of tattoo machines that filled the room made the pit of her stomach twist with anticipation. She had been researching tattoo shops and artists for the better part of a week, scrolling through Instagram and Facebook to find a nice local place that would suit her.

Talon Tattoo Inc. seemed to be well regarded. They had three steady artists all with impeccable portfolios and according to their facebook they brought in guest artists pretty regularly. Without an appointment she was rolling the dice as to which artist she would get, but she felt alright with that.

The walls in the shop were covered in flash art. A jewelry case on one side of the room held different types of body jewelry including many different sizes of gauges. She wanted to look at everything, but at the same time she didn’t want to seem too eager.

“Can I help you?” One of the artists asked. He was sitting at a leather table, half bent over the body of his client. He had a tattoo machine in his black gloved hands. Lena remembered the names of the artists from the website. Though they weren't pictured the portfolios of Gabriel, Sombra, and Amélie were all online. She guessed this was Gabriel.

“Have you got time for a walk in?” Lena asked hopefully.

“Give me one second.” Gabriel said to his canvas. He set his machine down and stood up, stripping the latex gloves from his hands. He was wearing a dark hoody with long sleeves but Lena could see that he was tattooed everywhere, down to his knuckles. As he came closer she noticed that even his neck was tattooed. He walked over to the counter nearby and looked at her skeptically for a second. “You eighteen?”

Lena frowned. “I’m twenty six.”

“What are you looking to get?” He continued, glazing over the fact that he had just miscalculated her age by almost a full decade.

“A traditional swallow.” She told him.

“How big?” As he spoke, the artist gathered together a clipboard and a pen and a couple of forms.

“Oh.” They were already getting into specifics. It hit her that this was really happening. She was really about to get a tattoo. She lost her words for a moment but quickly found them again. “Two or three inches? I’m not sure.”

“Sombra, are you almost done?” Gabriel asked, looking over his shoulder at a female currently tattooing away at a bench across the room. One side of her head was closely shaved and the rest of her hair came down in vibrant purple curls. She had plenty of piercings too, bright purple acrylics capping the barbells in her ears and face. Lena remembered her portfolio, a comprehensive mix of new school and realistic styles.

Sombra seemed to regard the tattoo she was working on for a few seconds, wiping at it with a paper towel. “Eh. Another ten, twenty minutes maybe? Amélie should be free right now though.”

Gabriel turned back to Lena. "Alright. Fill this out. Someone will be with you in a little bit, just sit tight.” He handed the clipboard over.

Lena took the clipboard and moved to sit on a wooden bench by the shop window.

“Amélie,” Gabriel went wandering towards the back of the shop. He ducked his head into what was clearly a back room. Lena could just barely hear him speaking. “There’s a walk-in up front.”

After that he went back to the leather bench his client was laying on. Lena watched curiously as he pulled on a new pair of gloves and settled in, speaking in a low voice about how they were almost finished with shading.

She turned her attention to the first page of the clipboard. It was a waiver and consent form. There were several bullet points she had to initial by. She confirmed she wasn’t a hemophiliac, she had no communicable diseases, she wasn’t under the influence of drugs and alcohol, she didn’t have any allergies, she understood that variations in color and design may occur during application, she understood the tattoo was permanent and that she was definitely over eighteen. She signed off on all of it, adding her signature at the bottom of the page. The next form was an emergency contact sheet. Although she had no plans of fainting or passing out, she filled out the contact info anyway.

When she was done she stood, awkwardly lingering by the counter. The other artists were clearly busy working, she didn’t want the bother them. Just as she was about to speak up when a woman came walking out from the back of the shop. Lena’s heart flopped in her chest. She was absolutely certain that this was the most beautiful girl she’d ever seen in her life.

She was already almost six foot tall, but she had on impossibly high heels and a dangerously high ponytail making her seem even taller. Her hair came down to the small of her back, a whip of black so dark it was almost blue. Her arms were elegantly decorated in tattoos, including gothic script and spider web designs that looked almost minimal in their aesthetic. Her golden eyes, piercingly bright compared to the dark clothes and hair and ink on her skin, locked with Lena’s. Lena thought she might faint after all.

“Hello there,” The tattoo artist walked over to greet her, offering a perfectly manicured hand to shake. “My name is Amélie, what type of tattoo are you interested in getting?”

“Uh,” Lena could feel her stupid freckled face blushing. As if Amélie wasn’t beautifulenough she had to tie everything together with a panty-dropping French accent too? Lena barely managed to stick out her hand to shake with and it took her a long moment to even realize she’d been asked a question. “Oh! I- swallow!”

Amélie stared straight at her for a moment before her lips twitched into a slight smile. “ _Oui, cherie_? What else do you do with your mouth?” She asked, leaning in.

Lena was already blushing but this sent a fresh burst of heat across her face and all down her neck. Her brain was short circuiting, still stunned by the beauty of Amélie and all mixed up with embarrassment from misspeaking, the thrill of flirting, and the nervousness of her first tattoo. She couldn’t even squeak a reply, her mouth moved in the effort to form words but nothing came out.

Amélie saved her by moving on with a different question, one significantly less flirtatious in nature. “A swallow, hm? Are you a sailor?”

Lena breathed. She could actually answer this. “A midshipman actually, in the Feet Air Arm branch of the Royal Navy. 809 Naval Air Squadron. I fly F-35B’s.” It was easy for her to talk about her service. She could yammer on about her rank and MOS with absolute ease. She was still blushing bright red but at least she had managed to put a couple of cohesive sentences together.

“Ah,” Amélie regarded her carefully. “A pilot. A bird is a good choice then. Do you have a reference photo?”

Amélie’s French accent was so deliciously thick that Lena didn’t quite catch the word ‘reference’ at first. “Oh, yes!” She said a second later, quickly taking her phone out from her pants pocket. Traditional swallow tattoos mostly looked the same but she had found a few that she especially liked online. She had the pictures saved to her phone. Lena pulled one up and passed her cell over.

Amélie looked at it and nodded. “You want color?”

“Gold and orange and a little blue, if that’s okay?” Lena said hopefully. Most swallow tattoos already were those colors; golden-yellow wings, red bellies and blue bodies. “Like this but orange instead on the bottom here,” She said, pointing to the spot of red color in the one Amélie was looking at on her phone.

“ _D’accord_. About what size?” Amélie asked.

“Maybe, the size of my palm?” Lena suggested, clearly sounding unsure. She didn’t know what size was good for a tattoo like this.

Amélie only nodded again. “Where will you get it?”

“My ribs.” Lena said definitively. She wasn't sure about the other details but she knew this much. She wanted it on her ribs on her right side.

“Ah, you must like pain, _cherie_.” Amélie teased her.

Of course Lena found herself blushing again. How could she not? No one had ever flirted with her this much in her entire life, much less a complete bombshell like Amélie was. “I-“

“Is this your first tattoo?” Amélie interrupted her before she could speak.

“Yeah,” Lena admitted. She knew she wasn’t being judged, Amélie needed to know if she had done this before. Still, it felt kind of awkward to be the only person in the entire shop who wasn’t covered in tattoos. Even the people getting worked on now had plenty of their skin already covered.

“Rib tattoos are very painful.” Amélie told her. “Are you certain?”

“Yeah.” Lena said the word again with a little more force this time. “I can handle it.”

Amélie looked her up and down before seemingly allowing it. “It will be two hundred dollars. If that’s acceptable then I can get to work drawing it.”

“Two hundred’s fine.” Lena nodded.

“Please, have a seat.” Amélie gestured to where Lena had been sitting before. She switched off her phone and handed it back before heading towards the back of the shop. Lena definitely watched her walk away.

On her way towards the back Amélie stopped to lean over Sombra’s shoulder and looked at her work. “ _Magnifique_.” She said softly. Sombra grinned as she continued tattooing.

Lena took a seat. She nervously chewed on her bottom lip and tried to keep her leg from jiggling. She was known to be a ball of energy, the type of person that bounced off the walls. This was especially true for when she was nervous or excited. The last thing she wanted to do was make herself an annoyance so she tried to stay still but it was hard.

She watched Sombra and Gabriel as they worked. When Sombra finished, Lena got to see it as her canvas stood up and limped over towards a nearby mirror. She gasped and uttered words of praise and happiness upon seeing the finished product of her calf tattoo. She was so happy. Tracer couldn’t wait to be that happy too.

It took almost half an hour for Amélie to return. It was just as incredible to see her for a second time as it was the first. She was so stunningly beautiful. She had a piece of tracing paper in her hands that she brought over for Lena to see. Drawn perfectly in thick black lines was a swooping swallow, wings spread wide. It was perfect. It emulated that traditional Sailor Jerry style that made Lena’s heart swell.

“I love it.” Lena whispered.

“Too small?” Amélie asked.

Lena shook her head at once. “No, no. It’s good.“

“Come back to my station.” Amélie nodded towards an empty leather bench. Lena could tell it had been recently sanitized by the feint alcohol smell. Also, she had seen Sombra wiping her work space down immediately after finishing a tattoo so she assumed the same thing had happened here. Amélie was getting things ready. “Take off your shirt.” She ordered.

Lena swallowed hard, heart leaping in her chest. “What?”

Amélie looked at her with a soft touch of amusement on her face. “Or have you changed your mind about your ribs?”

“Oh, no.” Of course she turned bright red again because she just couldn’t stop herself. She slid her white t-shirt up over her head, messing up her already messy brown hair. She didn’t think about the fact that she would have to take her shirt off or she would have worn a cuter bra. She also didn’t know her tattoo artist was going to be the most beautiful woman in the world.

Amélie reached out, gently lifting Lena’s arm. She stared looked hard at the side of her body as if gauging a good place. “Here?” She asked, holding the tracing paper up to Lena’s ribcage in suggestion. Lena glanced down. That seemed okay. She actually wasn’t too picky about where on her ribs. Just somewhere she could hide under her clothes. It was about an inch or two below her bra strap and that seemed like a fine place for a swallow.

“Sure,” She nodded.

“ _D’accord_. Stand still, _cherie_. Keep your arm up.” Amélie pulled on a pair of black latex gloves. She cleaned a patch of Lena’s skin with rubbing alcohol first and then some kind of green liquid, wiping it on with a paper towel. It smelled like how hospitals smell, making Lena’s nose twitch. Amélie brought a disposable razor to Lena’s skin next. In a few quick swipes she shaved away any little hairs there, though Lena wasn’t sure she had any on that part of her body.

Amélie then lined up the stencil, carefully eyeing the placement before sticking the paper to Lena’s damp skin. She smoothed it down. She was rather business-like and clinical with her touch but Lena still felt tingles run down her spine. She couldn’t believe she was half naked, having her ribs stroked by someone so beautiful. Right now that was actually outweighing the excitement of getting a tattoo.

Amélie stepped back, looking at the placement from a distance. “Check in the mirror if this is where you want it.” She said, pointing to the nearby full length mirror. Lena walked over, arm raised up above her head. She glanced at her reflection, turning to the side to see it. Her heart leapt. It was already so beautiful and it was just a blue outline.

“It’s good.” She said as she walked back to the bench.

“ _C’est bon_.” Amélie repeated the sentiment in French. “Lay down on your side then and we can start.”

Lena climbed on to the leather bench and laid out flat on her left side, offering up her ribs. Her heart had done so many leaps and plummets and now it was hammering a mile a minute. She was excited and scared and she couldn’t help nervously chewing her lip.

“I’m going to start here.” Amélie told her, touching the stencil swallow's wing tip with her finger. “It might feel like I’m tattooing all the way into your stomach but I’m not. When I reach the other side it might feel like I’m tattooing your back but it’s all right here on your ribs. If you need to cough or change position or move tell me first, _oui_? We can stop and take a break if you need to but no crying allowed.”

Lena smiled at that last part. “Got it.”

As she spoke Amélie had readied her tattoo machine. This included taking a large needle out from its sterile wrapped packaging. She opened a can of Vaseline, gobbing some onto her wrist. She swiped a tiny amount and massaged it into Lena’s skin. It felt a little like being tickled. “Take a deep breath.” Amélie told her. There was a cap nearby all loaded up with black ink and she dipped the tattoo machine in, turning it on.

Lena breathed in deep.

The needle touched her skin. The tattooing began. It hurt like hell, but it wasn’t worse than she could manage. She thought maybe it would feel like she was being poked or stuck with a pin but it was more like being scratched. Her face twisted up a little with the pain of it but she held fast. She could totally handle this.

“Alright?” Amélie asked her, not stopping.

Lena almost nodded her head but thought better of moving at the last second. “No problem.” She said over the noise of the machine.

In the beginning it definitely wasn’t a problem either. It hurt but she managed it and Amélie kept right on working. It was just that it kept hurting, and kept hurting, and kept hurting. There was no relief. Sometimes the pain was a little sharper than others. It felt like the needle was digging especially deep into her skin but Lena knew that couldn't be. She found herself clenching her jaw tight and nervously balling her hands into fists.

Every once in a while Amélie would swipe over the skin she was working on with a damp paper towel. Almost as often she would rub Vaseline over the freshly tattoos flesh. Both those actions hurt worse than the needle itself.

Lena spent a long time staring at the flash art nearby on the wall. She learned the intricacies of a sheet full of Death's Head moths and traditional skulls. She wished she had a better distraction, something to take her mind off the pain. She would have stared at Amélie’s face if she could but she wasn’t really in the best position to do so.

She wasn’t sure how long she lay there, sucking it up as the tattoo machine scratched away at her. She sat patiently as Amélie changed out needles, readied some gold and orange and blue paint, and switched out her gloves. Then it was time for the color. Lena quickly learned how much more painful that was. The outline of black had been on her untouched skin, the color was going over and around the tender tattooed skin. It was literally digging into fresh wounds.

“Oh bloody hell.” Lena groaned, squeezing her eyes tight.

She thought she heard Amélie laugh at her but she wasn’t sure. When she peeked her eyes open the tattoo artist only had the hint of a smile on her face.

She didn’t have to suffer forever though. Eventually the tattoo was finished. Amélie did have to go back over a few areas more than once which was true torture but even that ended too. Amélie cleaned up the tattoo, wiping away the blood and ink and then coating it in Vaseline.

"Have a look." She said, sliding back in her chair.

Gingerly, Lena sat up. Her ribs on her right side ached. She carefully made her way to the mirror, awkwardly holding arm up over her head. She took a look at her reflection and she gasped. The tattoo was red and splotchy, skin reacting to the pain it had been put through. Remnants of ink were wiped all down her side turning her flesh grey. The tattoo itself was puffy and pink around the edges. Still, it was beautiful. She could see through the mess to the wonder and amazement that was her new tattoo. It would heal to be a true piece of art.

Lena found herself tearing up just a little. She had wanted this tattoo since the day she had joined the Royal Navy. After graduating from boot her entire squadron went to go get 809 tattoos. She had waited, refusing to get inked if it wasn't the swallow she wanted.

"Happy?" Amélie asked.

Lena nodded and blinked away the tears before they could properly form. "It's perfect." She insisted. There was no way Amélie could know how perfect it was, or how this tattoo was exactly what Lena wanted.

"Good," Amélie beckoned Lena back over to where she was sitting at her station. "Let me bandage it." She pulled out some large pads of medical gauze and white medical tape.

It hurt a little to have the gauze pressed into her fresh tattoo. Lena stared down at Amélie's face, studying the beauty of it, pleasantly distracted as the bandages were taped into place. Amélie gingerly helped her put her shirt back on.

In her heavy French accent she went over the aftercare information. Lena needed to leave the bandage on over night and then clean her new tattoo with hot water and unscented soap tomorrow morning. She was supposed to pat it dry, not rub it with a towel, and coat it with a thin layer of unscented lotion every day. No swimming, no soaking, no scratching at it and no picking the scabs that would eventually form.

Lena found herself nodded eagerly, watching Amélie's mouth, and completely zoning out as she spoke. Her brain was definitely thinking of other things as she stared at her tattoo artists' flawless face. Thankfully when Amélie finished bandaging the tattoo she handed Lena a sheet of paper with aftercare rules bulleted on it.

When it was all said and done Amélie walked her to the front of the shop. They passed Sombra who says tattooing away on another walk-in and Gabriel who was still finishing that shading. Lena could see that he was working on a very impressive scrawling back piece.

Lena paid for her tattoo, the two hundred she owed plus an extra hundred dollar tip. She wasn't actually sure how much to tip artists, but she knew the value of good gratuity. This tattoo was everything she wanted and absolutely priceless to her, she had no problem adding a hundred dollars more to her total. When Amélie counted out the cash she raised up her eyebrow.

"The rest is for you." Lena said.

" _Merci, cherie_." Amélie leaned across the counter and bestowed French bisous on Lena's cheeks, two chaste kisses that made her heart race. "Come back again, _oui_?" Amélie offered her business card with a piece of her art on the front and the shop name on the back.

Lena took it. She hadn't planned on getting any tattoos besides this one. She would come back to the shop though. Right after she worked up the courage to ask Amélie on a date.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! feel free to comment if u like!
> 
> i'm accepting prompts and suggestions for femslash february all year round. drop'em [here](http://deathtouch.tumblr.com/ask)
> 
> also, please check out my [2017 femslash masterpost](http://deathtouch.tumblr.com/post/156687675803) on tumblr :) 
> 
> [tumblr](http://deathtouch.tumblr.com/) | [twitter](https://twitter.com/deathtouchxx)


End file.
